The MWC’24 event in Barcelona showcased the groundbreaking impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the telecommunications sector, with Google Cloud leading the charge in AI-driven innovation. Over the past year, Google Cloud has collaborated with Communication Service Providers (CSPs) worldwide (See more the CSPs definition at Gartner), resulting in transformative initiatives and partnerships that leverage the power of data and AI to reshape the industry.
Global Collaborations and Partnerships:
Accenture and Google Cloud joined forces to establish a Joint Generative AI Center of Excellence. This collaboration provides access to over 130 models through Model Garden on Vertex AI, allowing rapid prototyping of industry use cases.
Bell Canada, in its commitment to enhancing customer experience, is leveraging conversational analytics and Contact Center AI (CCAI). Bell Canada aims to explore generative AI applications in personalization, marketing, and customer service.
BT Group and Google Cloud announced a strategic security partnership, targeting various joint innovation opportunities.
KDDI, a prominent telecom provider, is set to launch an initiative that enriches customer lives through experiences with generative AI. This includes combining metaverse and Web3 service αU with Google’s high-performance gen AI model, Gemini Pro, and Immersive Stream for XR.
Maxis expanded its collaboration with Google Cloud, integrating enterprise-grade gen AI into its workflows and customer service offerings. Leveraging Duet AI for Developers and Gemini models on Vertex AI, Maxis aims to streamline operations and deliver differentiated customer experiences.
Nokia introduced the AVA Data Suite, running on Google Cloud, to help CSPs standardize data and facilitate the development of AI and machine learning (ML) applications, including secure autonomous operations and predictive network maintenance.
Smart Communications, Inc. adopted Google Cloud’s Telecom Subscriber Insights to inform the development of services that empower users to manage and optimize mobile data consumption, enhancing mobile services for subscribers.
Telkomsel collaborated with Google Cloud to integrate gen AI into its operations and core product offerings. This includes a gen AI-powered solution for data analysis and a Content Management System for RCS Business Messaging.
TM Forum, along with Google Cloud, Accenture, Deutsche Telekom, Reliance Jio, Orange, and Vodafone, launched the TM Forum Innovation Hub. The hub focuses on the potential of gen AI and large language models for CSPs, as well as accelerating the Open Digital Architecture (ODA).
AI-Enabled Networks and Cloud Solutions:
To support CSPs in building, deploying, and operating hybrid cloud-native networks, Google Cloud announced the general availability of Telecom Network Automation. This product provides intent-driven automation for telecom networks based on the Nephio open-source project.
Ericsson expanded its collaboration with Google Cloud to develop an Ericsson Cloud RAN solution on Google Distributed Cloud. This solution offers integrated automation and orchestration, leveraging AI/ML for additional benefits to CSPs.
Orange sees Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) Edge with Dataproc and Data Analytics as an ideal solution to analyze customer and network data securely across its 26 countries, extending from public cloud to on-premise environments.
Telefónica Germany partnered with Google Cloud and Nokia to integrate enhanced energy efficiency into their networks.
Gen AI Era Unveiled:
The Gen AI era, unveiled at MWC’24, heralds a transformative phase in artificial intelligence, spearheaded by Google’s cutting-edge models. Gemini, introduced as Google’s largest AI model, is a groundbreaking innovation. This advanced model, known as Gemini Advanced, has expanded its capabilities, offering significant enhancements. Notably, Gemini Advanced is now integrated into various products, such as Workspace and Google Cloud, showcasing its versatility.
The evolution doesn’t stop there. Google unveiled Gemini 1.5, the next-generation model in the Gen AI journey. This iteration boasts a remarkable improvement in performance, particularly in long-context understanding across various modalities. The integration of breakthrough technologies makes Gemini 1.5 a powerful tool in advancing AI applications.
Additionally, Gemma, a family of lightweight open models, has been introduced. Built using the same research and technology that created the Gemini models, Gemma signifies a commitment to diversifying AI applications. These lightweight models maintain the robustness of their predecessors but cater to specific use cases, ensuring adaptability across different industries.
For concrete details and figures on the performance improvements and capabilities of Gemini Advanced and Gemini 1.5, one can refer to Google’s official documentation and technical releases, providing a comprehensive insight into the advancements made in the Gen AI era.
Critical Roles of Gen AI Agents:
As CSPs harness the full potential of gen AI, gen AI agents play critical roles in four key areas:
- Automating Network Operations:
- Gen AI agents transform network planning, engineering, deployment, and operations. They provide engineer assistance via an accessible knowledge base, accelerating learning, generating and optimizing network intent and policies, troubleshooting, and ensuring high network uptime.
- Accelerating Field Services:
- Multimodal gen AI agents unlock significant value for CSPs in improving field operations. They assist in workforce tasks, address skillset gaps, provide technician support through multimodal interactions, and enhance ticket annotation, ultimately lowering costs and increasing customer satisfaction.
- Improving Customer Care:
- Gen AI widens virtual agents’ scope in contact centers, driving operational efficiency and top-line revenue across sales, activation, and retention. Lowering barriers to entry and time to value, gen AI enables more interactions to be automated, faster training of human agents, and effective observation of call insights.
- Transforming Sales and Marketing:
- Gen AI enriches highly personalized outreach with customers through smartphone devices. By creating better campaigns with AI-driven segmentation, identifying customers with high conversion propensity, and generating targeted messages across channels, CSPs can enhance customer engagement and drive richer advertising.
The Conclude:
The MWC’24 showcased a dynamic landscape of AI applications transforming the telecom sector, with Google Cloud at the forefront of innovation. The gen AI era, epitomized by Gemini and its advanced versions, is set to redefine how CSPs operate, automate, and enhance customer experiences. As the industry embraces the power of gen AI, the collaboration between technology leaders and CSPs continues to drive unprecedented value and set new benchmarks for the future.
